Pre-impregnated materials, such as composite broad goods, are generally supplied in rolls with a backing film or paper adhered to the pre-impregnated side(s) of the material. Once the roll is spread and cut into smaller pieces or plies having a predetermined shape, the backing film must be removed on an individual ply before use.
Generally, the removal of backing film from a pre-impregnated material is performed by hand (e.g. manually). The manual removal of the backing film is time consuming and prone to damaging and contamination of the pre-impregnated material. As an alternative to manual removal of the backing film, vacuum grippers have been used to remove the backing film however, such use of the vacuum grippers is unreliable in an automated production environment. For example, two vacuum grippers can be employed to grip the backing film and the pre-impregnated material from opposite directions and pull the backing film and the pre-impregnated material apart from one another. However, during testing of this separation technique the adhesive forces between the backing film and the pre-impregnated material occasionally overcomes the gripping forces of the vacuum grippers causing the backing film to remain attached to the pre-impregnated material. Accordingly, to improve and increase the automation of handling and placement of pre-impregnated plies, improved techniques for automated removal of the backing film may be desirable.